The Dumpsite

THE SKY was a mixture of black and orange, red-orange perhaps. The dawn just strike on land and early this time, Blanche and her battalion had just arrived at the said training ground, but for the latter, it was more likely a dumpsite. Blanche sees this place as a site of a human who was thrown to die. 

           Blanche sighed as she tried to shrug off the thought of what she had seen earlier. She couldn't argue with herself as she was unsure if what she had seen was indeed accurate. Jeez, why am I being preoccupied with that silhouette of a being? I'm not even sure if that's her! She mumbles from inside.

            On the other hand, while the Captain is occupied with her previous memory of that someone, the recruits drop their bags on the snowy ground and look around, buzzing like bees can be heard. They can’t believe that they made it! Who wouldn’t be? After facing a snowstorm, staying in an igloo just to keep them warm and walking on a snowy path make them shiver to death. Most of them, the recruits, thought that they were going to die long before they can make it here.

            “Guess we’re already late,” Aerith murmured under her breath while standing beside the Captain. She removed her mask and wiped her chin using her wrist.

           “Oh!” someone exclaimed and let the other trainees stop what they doing and greet the newly arrived. Rolling her eyes, she made her way toward Aerith. “How I wish they could greet you both in a more tiger look, stomach in-chest out-way. You know, in a more military way.” A lady wearing a military uniform with her hands in her pants pocket was withdrawn by the cabin's main door.

            “Son Hyun Ah,” Blanche utter and slightly nodded to the lady. The latter smiled, “That was me, Captain Blue.” while pointing her thumb finger on her own chest.

            The girl named Son Hyun Ah has an eye color of ebony brown, blonde hair, petite; stands at merely five feet, she also had a white complexion skin. A complete Korean description.

            “How come you arrived early? Didn't you encounter the snowstorm from last night?” Aerith asked, curiously, while raising her brows and arms crossed to her chest.

            “Oh! Well, I let ‘em use the Amtrak. Simply as that,” Hyun-Ah shrug her shoulder as she answered to Aerith's query. It's as if she's saying that she finds a way not to experience the snowstorm.

            “Amtrak? You mean the amphibious tractor?”

            Son Hyun Ah just shrugged and drew her attention to the recruits, “My, my, look at your trainees, they’re lousy.” She winced as if she were annoyed with the newbies' appearances.

           “That’s the reason why we brought them here,” Blanche replied bluntly. “Wouldn’t you let us in first before doing some interrogation kinds of stuff, Hyun Ah?”

            “Oh well, yeah. The room for the new recruits is located East of the North, two out of five rooms are occupied so take the three vacant rooms, each room had two double-deck beds. Move!” Son Hyun Ah said to the recruits. Hastily, the recruits entered the room and followed the commando’s command.

            “You think we can survive the training?” one of the trainees asked Aracelli. The latter looked at her colleague, “We should.” I should survive this training or else, I won't get what I wanted. She told herself while glaring at Blanche. Blanche, on the other hand, notices the intense glare of someone so she takes a look only to find Aracelli's death glare at her.

           Blanche, being her usual self, give the trainee a smirk and hand-signaled her to move and enter the cabin. Aracellie could not protest but roll her eyes heavenward. Argh, dumbass! She thought.

            Later that day, when the sun shone above the roof of their cabin, the trainees abruptly run towards the door for they heard some commotion outside the cabin. There, they saw Son Hyun Ah, Blanche, and Aerith. Hyun Ah was leaning on the porch looking intently at both Blanche and Aerith who were giving a death glare at each other.

            “How I love to see blood,” Hyun Ah said, looking at the trainees. 

            “Excuse me, but what was happening?” the girl named Autumn asked. “They’re going to kill each other, amazing ay't?” nonchalantly, Hyun Ah replied letting the trainees gasp.

            “Of course, I am just kidding, youngsters. They’re just having some sparring, you know, spanking, stabbing, and such. Nothing serious,” the commando said, repaying her attention to the two. She rolled her eyes heavenwards and groan inwardly, “C’mon, I want to see the both of you in blood.”

            “You’re full of pranks, Hyun Ah.” Someone said making the three of them get stiff. “Salute!” Son Hyun Ah abruptly said, saluting the newly arrived. All the trainees salute the newly arrived with the exemption of Blanche and Aerith who was just staring blankly at that someone.

           The newly arrived was wearing a long coat and underneath it is a military uniform similar to Hyun-Ah's. She was carrying a wild boar on her left shoulder while on the other one hangs a bolt-action rifle.

            The guest just nodded and signal them to stop saluting while she put the dead boar on the porch as well as her rifle. “So, you two had arrived. We’re expecting you to be in here last night, what happened? What was the cause of the delay?” She asked and turn her attention towards Blanche and Aerith.

            “Whoa! Whoa!" Hyun-Ah tapped Alexis' shoulder, "You should calm down, Alexis.” She said as she tried to lighten up the mood but the three just stared at each other. “What?! No one will explain?” asked the latter, placing her hands inside her pocket.

            “Don’t act too dense, Alexis. We can’t let the trainees walk along while there’s a snowstorm,” said Blanche while hastily grabbing the baston, an arnis stick, which they had used for their sparring.

            The being named Alexis chuckled, “Ha! So Captain Blue cares for her battalion now? Gosh, it's a miracle isn't it?” She lunatically laugh as if some stupid joke were spilled up. She shrugs in disbelief and gathered again the wild boar and her rifle as she makes her way inside the cabin. "Anyway, it's not so nice to be with you after that incident." She added and leave.

THE DAY after they arrived was full of challenges. They let the trainees undergo hard training, some of them are already giving up but the commandos wouldn’t let them. They were like tormenting the newbies.

            “My arms are still hurting,” exclaimed Aracelli while pressing lightly her arms.

            “Me too,” another trainee said, leaning on the chair. “Sit erect!” Alexis reprimanded making them sit on their seat properly. It was their lunch break but this commando wouldn’t let them relax.

            “We’ll be having your second training after an hour so better finish your lunch,” Alexis commanded holding a thin stick as if she's one of those terror professors that you'll meet during university days. Her hands are crossed to her chest while walking back and forth, looking intently at the recruits.

            The trainees couldn’t help it but whimper silently as they continue eating. “Let ‘em eat in peace, Alexis. Don’t be a burden on them,” someone said.

            “And what do you want them to do then? Sit back and relax while eating? C’mon, we both know that entering this kind of shit isn’t a joke, they need to be trained as soon as possible.”

            “If it is not you then I’m going to kill you, but it’s you. The commander in chief” said Blanche who was now sitting beside Aracelli. Tapping the tobacco she's holding, she chuckles at the thought of killing her comrade. “Good thing you still remember that I am the commander in chief,” Alexis chastised.

            “How can I forget when your freaking tag says it all? Kwon, Alexis, Commander in chief. Ha! Displaying your fucking degree,” Blanche stated, not minding if her trainees can hear and see what they were talking about.

            “Your tag says it all too. Emerson, Blanche Lucille, Fucking Colonel slash Captain. What now? Having a double freaking fucking shitty degree eh?” Alexis gave the Captain a lunatic smirk while glaring at her. On that statement, Blanche stopped tapping the tobacco on the table and closed her fist.

            “You know I’m not proud of this, Alexis,” Blanche replied as she stood up. “Continue eating, follow her instructions.” She commanded their battalion.

            Without the group's knowledge, two figures were hiding in the trees just above where the dumpsite was located. They were both looking at the opponent's location as if they were checking something.

            “I did not know that she’s here,” one of them said, looking at the other.

            “You should expect the unexpected,” the other shrugged and continue looking at the binoculars.

            “I don't even get it. Why do we need to spy on them? What do you even want?" the being who's looking at her binoculars asked the superior.

            “To know all of her plans, all of their plans,” the other stated.

            They were in the middle of the conversation when someone inside the dumpsite went out, a familiar figure. “We better keep going,” one of them suggested as they took a step away from the tree where they were hiding.

            Blanche heaves a deep sigh and looks up towards the mountain not so far from their location. It was covered with multiple numbers of species of trees. She paused for a while and squinted for she thought that she caught someone or something behind the trees just above the location of the dumpsite, looking in her direction. She shrugged for she assumed that she was just overthinking things. “I thought I saw someone from there,” she whispers to herself.

            “Indeed, we saw the same thing.” Son Hyun Ah said coming from somewhere behind her.

          Blanche's brows furrowed as she quizzically look at the newly arrived combatant. "How long have you been here?" She asked, Hyun-Ah shrugged her shoulder off as she walked toward the Captain. "Not long enough when you've arrived here though."

          The Captain nods as she crosses her arms on her chest. "That thing, how long have they been there?" she asked, pointing her finger in the direction where she saw those being.

          "Had no idea how long, but I just noticed them since there's a light reflection that hit my vision for a short while, perhaps they're using scope or binoculars?" Hyun-Ah responded, placing her hands in her pockets.

          Blanche chuckled as she remembers what had happened last time. Hyun-Ah looked at her with a confused look. "Do you... Do you think that there's still a chance that she's still alive?" She asked, lowering her gaze while her foot is playing with these tiny rocks that were covering the sand.

          The other officer faces Blanche sideways as her brows wrinkled as if she could not acknowledge what the Captain had asked her. "Wait, you're not thinking that---"

          "I'm just asking. I'm not too sure as well if she's the one that I have seen last time. I can remember the figure - it was just like her."

          "Maybe your conscience is hunting you," a familiar voice said which made both Blanche and Hyun-Ah to looked swiftly in the voice's direction. There, leaning on her back while her left foot was pressed on the wall backward while the other was on the ground supporting her stance, is Alexis looking at them with a sly smile.

          Hyun Ah could not help it but press her palm on her forehead while shrugging. She grunts, about to say something but Blanche just chuckles. "Hmm, maybe. Maybe her ghost's hunting me off already," the Captain responded as she swallow a lump in her throat.

          "Fix up yourself, Captain Blue, you won't be able to get any mission if you keep on acting that way," Alexis added while signaling Hyun-Ah to come after her. "I hope her death would not be the reason for you to fall down your position. After all, your position does not suit you." With a smirk on her lips, Alexis leaves the place. Hyun Ah, on the other hand, is hesitant to leave Blanche alone but the Captain just nods and lets her leave. No choice but to go, Hyun Ah just heaves a sigh and taps Blanche's shoulder before following Alexis' path.

          The Captain could not do anything but groan inwardly as she angrily kicks off the sand in front of her. "Fucking useless! You're fucking useless, Blanche!" She said, slapping herself.

          The wind had blown silently, which makes Blanche calm down. She shut her eyes as she sighs. As she inhale, a familiar scent touched her senses. Brewed coffee... Hastily opening her eyes, she gazed in the scent's direction. There, she saw a retreating shadow of a familiar figure. "If it is not you, then who would it possibly be?" Blanche asks herself while watching the retreating shadow walk away.

          "Am I hallucinating things out?" She question herself again as she parted her hair using her bare hand.